{0 
     
     was a boon to city excursionists, but of little economic benefit to the 
     
     farmers. It was but natural, then, that the public welcomed the motor 
     
    

    
     bpoxts and shifted their patronage accordingly. Soon her freight and 
     
     passenger traffic: approached the vanishing point, and the Harland became 
     
    

    
     a financial liubility. She was sold to a concern in Cape Breton where, 
     
     several years later she was destroyed by fire. 
     
    

    
     Pioneer among the launch eftrepreneurs was John Inman, who enjoyed a 
     
     monopoly of the river trade until Hesell MacNevin entered the lists with 
     
     a slightly larger boat. Next came William MacRae . who lost his life on the 
     
     river by drowning, and was succeeded by Toff Beaton. At a later date, 
     
     Charlie Moore and Spurgeon Hickox joined the river fleet and provided 
     
     excellent service on the Bonshaw-Charlottetown run. 
     
    

    
     A boat of a different build and purpose was the Lady Grey, built and 
     
     operated by Thomas Kickham of New Haven and his son Larry. She was much 
     
     larger and more sturdy in construction than her contemporaries, having 
     
     been designed for freight transportation, rather than for passenger 
     
     service. AS a youngster I used to enjoy visits to Kickham's shoreside farm, 
     
     on Sunday afternoons, in the hope that Mr. Kickham would take the Lady out 
     
     for a spin up the river to 3onshaw, or down below the bridge, 
     
    

    
     On a'bitterly cold November day, with a rouring nor'easter driving 
     
     blinding curtains of snow, and piling up whitecaps on the river, Mr. Kickha: 
     
     then well along in his seventies single-handedly piloted the Lady Grey 
     
     down to Charlottetown. Her cargo of pressed hay towered above her decks, 
     
     shutting off all forward vision and forcing the Skipper at the wheel to 
     
     lean far out over the taffrail to spot the channel markers ahead. Robert 
     
     MacPhail, who was shipping the hay, begged Captain Tom to postpone his 
     
     departure until the weather had moderated, but drew a curt negative in 
     
     reply: "Cargo's all aboard. I've no time for lollygaggin'. Cast her off!" 
     
    
   
   
    
     Truly a figure reminiscent of the days of wooden ships and iron men!